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Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week Of January 20th

ROPE Report news headlines

Oklahoma schools chief sues federal government over immigration policies

Oklahoma Voice – Cynic that I am, this feels very much like a media stunt for a couple reasons; I would imagine this kind of suit would fall in the AG’s backyard, and we will be unburdened by what has been on the 20th of January, so I’m not sure how a suit like that will be dealt with, and finally, there was no dollar amount specified in the lawsuit. In October, Walters sent a letter to VP Harris demanding $474,900,000.00 in reimbursement for the education of student non-citizens, but this number wasn’t listed on the lawsuit apparently.

Cynicism aside, this should have been done at the beginning of Walter’s term when a ruling might have had a snowball’s chance of getting some kind of meaningful ruling, but it should have been done, nonetheless. For years, our immigration policy – or lack of one beyond, “let ’em all in” – has burdened schools with the cost of educating children here in this country illegally who can barely read in their own language let alone speak and/or read in English. Those on the left cry and scream when this is said, but that doesn’t make it any less true. It is a financial BURDEN to schools to staff bi-lingual classrooms for kids who should be able to speak English when they enroll – one that taxpayers foot.

The lawsuit comes hot on the heels of Walter’s proposed rule to check the immigration status of students before they are enrolled. Again, another thing which the left has screamed about, but which should be done. It never ceases to just slay me that the public school apologist crowd ALWAYS accuses those of us wanting accountability in our public schools of ‘hating children’ when we suggest a way to use tax dollars in the ways they should be used. Yet, students who don’t speak English can be disruptive to other students trying to learn. So who really ‘hates children’?

Another Oklahoma Voice article from today (the 20th) describes a hearing held by the State Board of Education which was attended by Board member Kendra Wesson and the OSDE attorney, that brought further complaint about the proposed rule.

(OK) Wetumka Schools Arrested & Confessed Pedophile Withholds Phone Passcode, Lies for Low Bail, Home Never Searched

V1SUT – Mary will be on with us on Wednesday (1.22.25) to talk about this, but please read it before hand. I’m sure you’ll have some questions for Mary to answer LIVE on the podcast (starting at 9am on all our social media channels). This is truly the perfect example of the miscarriage of justice going on in MANY small towns in Oklahoma while the victim/s have no recourse.

Commentary on State Sponsored University’s Balancing Act Between Athletic Triumph and Academic Integrity

Sooner Sentinel – writer Marven Goodman (who will be on our show next month with Representative Tom Gann talking about automated license plate readers) makes some excellent points here about the trend to make college more about sports than learning and a bit about the policies behind the ‘trend’.

From Goodman: Our colleges are at a crossroads, trying to use sports money without forgetting their educational mission. The plan includes not just giving money but also supporting athletes to finish their degrees, making sure they have something valuable when they leave college. But the big question remains: how do we judge success? If a football team wins big but the school’s academic reputation falls, what does that say about the school’s priorities?

Courage Is Contagious, and the Oklahoma House of Representatives Has Just Been Infected

The Oklahoma State Capitol – Jason Murphy writes about the 7 Representatives who were the only ones to vote NO on the new rules for the Oklahoma House on January 7th (Organizational Day) – Gann, Hildebrant, Jenkins, Shaw, Stegall, West (Rick), and Woolley – and what their leadership can mean for the House in coming sessions.

Jason will be on the podcast with us on February 12th to talk about the new House rules and I’m sure we’ll go over what happened on Organizational Day (1.7). If you haven’t seen it, you might check out the live video I did about it on the day after. Citizens of Oklahoma should know exactly what is happening at 23rd and Lincoln and this information will definitely help increase your knowledge base.

After Canoo shuttered factories, a bill seeks to keep other EV companies from getting cash from a state incentive program

Frontier – from the article, “Senate Bill 294, authored by Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, would exclude electric vehicle manufacturers from receiving payments from the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund”. I don’t often agree with Senator Pugh, but I do here! Don’t forget, “EV startup Canoo files for bankruptcy and ceases operations“. This is what happens when businesses that have no business being in business are funded by tax incentives. The business goes under and the state has to try and ‘claw back’ the incentives. This needs to stop, so how about just closing the “Quick Action Closing Fund” altogether? I’ll go for that!

Another article from the Oklahoman quotes Governor Stitt as saying, “Building a business is hard,” he said. “Building a capital heavy business like this is even harder. We should never fault someone for taking a chance to chase the American dream. Canoo has been cooperative in its work with the state and I wish the best to everyone involved.”

In the event you don’t understand my frustration at this comment, let me explain.

  1. Governor Stitt pledged over 100 million dollars to a private, stockowner-held, out-of-state company to come in and supply just about 500 workers. Figure that at half a million a job?
  2. The company was in trouble from the start – in fact, investors sued Canoo in 2023 for “misstating” their financial projections. This lawsuit tells of the troubled management of this company from the beginning. Who in the Governor’s cabinet looked into this? Shouldn’t someone? Why would we have offered this out-of-state company millions in Oklahoma tax dollars when they had a proven poor track record?
  3. Offering a private company taxpayer dollars is the classic definition of CORPORATISM, not CAPITALISM.

Efforts to raise the age of consent in Oklahoma return to Legislature

Oklahoma Voice – From the article: House Bill 1003, authored by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, would raise the age of sexual consent from 16 to 18 years old in Oklahoma. The bill also includes what he calls a “Romeo and Juliet provision” which protects those who had sex with children between 14 and 18 years old from prosecution if they are within four years of age.

“We don’t want the 35 year old coach to be nice to the 16-year-old girl and gain her consent,” Olsen said. “We don’t feel like that’s a good situation. … We don’t want people taking advantage of 16 or 17 year old girls in that respect.”

We need to get behind this legislation – thank you Jim Olson. Let’s protect children from adult predators.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announces 2026 gubernatorial bid

KOCO News – In case you’ve been in a coma and didn’t see this coming from as far away as Kansas…

Tulsa police won’t share the locations of more than 200 surveillance cameras

Frontier – The headline pretty much speaks for itself. This is the reason we are having Marven Goodman and Representative Tom Gann on the program on February 7th. This is NOT okay for citizens of Oklahoma, let alone the United States of America who breaks the 4th AND 5th Amendment every time they SURVEIL their own citizens.

How Oklahoma Property Taxes Are Calculated and Who/What Really Owns Your Property

ROPE Report – Absolutely the most important article I think we’ve ever written. Please read and share.

Our Wide-Ranging Interview With Kendra Wesson, Oklahoma State School Board Member

ROPE Report – A great run-down of the interview we had with one of our favorite people. Check it out!

ARTICLES RELATING TO “GREEN” ENERGY

2024 ‘worst year on record’ for wind power lost as electricity supplied by wind falls 

GRIPT (online Irish news) – From the article: “The drop has been attributed to grid constraints by Wind Energy Ireland. The energy company has published its annual report, which said that wind farms are closing because the electricity grid is not strong enough. Despite wind supplying almost a third of all electricity to the island of Ireland last year, the share of electricity provided by wind fell by 3 per cent compared to 2023.”

Big Wind & Big Solar Are Trying To Sue Rural America Into Submission

Robert Bryce (Substack) – From the substack: “In 2017, I talked to K. Darlene Park, a resident of Frostburg, Maryland, who was leading a fight against a proposed wind project in her neighborhood. She told me, “We feel this renewable energy push is an attack on rural America.”

The fight in Maryland is one of hundreds happening across the country. The Renewable Rejection Database now includes 764 rejections or restrictions of wind and solar projects since 2015. Among the latest examples came last November. On Election Day in Harpswell, Maine, a heavily Democratic electorate overwhelmingly rejected a proposed five-acre solar project. The vote against the project was 2,344 to 1,393, or 63% to 37%. That’s a decisive vote, particularly in a town that voted heavily for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump.”

Data centers, not homeowners, fueling Arizona’s steep energy demand

Channel 2 News (Phoenix) – This is a great article! It needs to be sent to every legislator. Please read the whole thing, but pay particular attention to the bulleted list about halfway down the page. Very eye-opening and just as with other ‘green’ energy projects, NONE OF THESE DEALS HAVE TAXPAYER ACCOUNTABILITY.

Top UN “Court” to Issue Landmark Ruling on “Climate Change”

New American, Alex Newman – From the article: “At the request of the United Nations and its member governments, the top UN “court” is set to rule on the supposed legal “obligations” of governments when it comes to fighting CO2 emissions and the alleged man-made “climate change” they supposedly cause. Experts say it may be the most significant case ever heard by the global body.

The Biden administration joined governments around the world asking the court to take a strong stand on the issue. But critics are sounding the alarm. Agriculture, energy, transportation, and other industries are all in the crosshairs, fueling concerns over more government-mandated economic carnage ahead.”  

Wall Street Climate Group Net Zero Suspends Activities Following BlackRock’s Exit

Breitbart News – From the article: “BlackRock, the globe’s largest asset manager with $11.5 trillion under management, walked away citing “confusion over the initiative’s climate efforts” and rising legal scrutiny from Republican lawmakers.

Far from serving the public interest, the Net Zero initiative that once had the enthusiastic backing. of BlackRock and other ESG cheerleaders on Wall Street is increasingly seen as out-of-touch with America’s economic needs and the political climate that is rejecting so many of the trendy causes adopted in 2020.”

Electric car range can plummet by up to 40% in winter, test reveals

This Is Money (UK) – Go figure…electrons don’t move very quickly in the cold…

The Cherokee Nation has been awarded $10.7 million for EV charging ports.

The Oklahoman – From Biden’s Infrastructure Bill: “The Cherokee Nation has received $10.7 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to install 112 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging ports across 12 community locations.”

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Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of January 13th, 2025

ROPE Report news headlines

Oklahoma Government Is Turning Our Kids Into Commodities – The Women Of Broken Trust Speak Out

ROPE Report – This is the write-up from our visit with Sherrie Conley, Dayna Mooney and Roberta Lewis of the new non-profit “Broken Trust”.

Peter Murphy of CFACT; Green Energy is “pure crony capitalism”

ROPE Report – Lots of links with the clips from last Friday when Michael and I interviewed Peter Murphy. You might want to send this article to your legislator!

Oklahoma House lawmaker takes on second role as government affairs manager

The Oklahoman – I’m not sure how we’re not to see this as a major conflict of interest. How does one sit on the board of an organization – certainly one like the Freedom From Religion Foundation – without that influencing your legislative votes? How do you lobby for a group and then NOT vote in a way that would further their cause on the floor of the House?

Rep. Dollens says he can do it because he’ll vote the way his constituents want, but then there’s this; Dollens’ new job will be to, “identify[ing] and advance[ing] key legislative priorities, building coalitions in strategic states and developing initiatives to counter Christian nationalism”. Interestingly, he then goes on to say in basically just the next paragraph that he is “in no way a lobbyist.” Since he just articulated the definition of lobbyist in the prior sentence, I’m very confused. Does that mean Rep. Dollens is as well?

Federal Agency Gains Access to Monitor Guthrie Oklahoma Residents Through City Surveillance System

Sooner Sentinel – The Sentinel tells us in this installment, that the ATF has been allowed access to automatic license plate reader (ALPR) data by the Guthrie Police Department. What? Essentially, just like we learned from Rep. Tom Gann’s interim study on ALPRs, the contract that Guthrie PD has signed with ALPR data group FLOCK. This is – I would hope – obviously, distressing. Police departments should not be using FLOCK because they share their data with so many other organizations. But then again, just recently the Sentinel told us how the City of Edmond refused an open records request for information on with whom exactly the City was sharing their ALPR data, so how would we really know. ALPR cameras must go IMO.

Government Created Pathogens: Will MAHA Finally Expose Origins of Lyme Disease?

V1SUT – Well this was an interesting departure from the articles we usually share from V1SUT, but BOY was it interesting. She makes a pretty darn good argument that Lyme disease was a lab-created, warfare disease. It’s a bit long, but fascinating. When you have a minute read it. But careful though, it might red-pill you if you’re not already! LOL

The Fool Has Said…

Shooting The Oklahoma Breeze Substack – really, quite a great commentary on the environmental movement. It’s short and very well-written, so at least scan it. His thesis is that the climate change narrative is given to us by fools who are too arrogant and consumed by elitism to realize they are even fools. Jesus is the only person who can save the planet, so we’re sitting with fools if we believe we’re somehow going to ‘fix’ the planet via any of the climate crowd’s ridiculous nonsense. I would add, that the best way to fix the planet IMO is reducing, reusing and recycling as individuals. Also, instead of technology companies focusing on things like AI that will not only eventually harm us, but eat up massive amounts of energy, they should focus on how better to recycle the things we’re taking from the earth NOW so that more people can use them a second time.

Court Strikes Down Biden’s Title IX Trans Overhaul Nationwide

The Federalist – YES! But it would have been nicer had they sped up the process a bit so we didn’t have to fight over boys in girls’ restrooms. With Trump coming into office, I expect that this stupidity will start to die off. If not, he – and we; in our own localities – should put the nail in that coffin. Another piece of nonsense that the Left had to dream up for their Utopian vision to be complete, so GOOD RIDDANCE.

Edmond, Moore, Stillwater districts shine in latest edition of Oklahoma State Report Card

The Oklahoman – Who really knows for certain what the Department of Educational Quality and Accountability office is doing with the state report cards. It was reported that the data had changed for the year and that cut scores had been changed, but there is nothing on the website I could find that explains how the data was crunched. If we don’t know how the data was collected, how do we know what to think of the scores? We talked to Kendra Wesson about that briefly in our conversation from last Wednesday, but even she wasn’t clear, she just mentioned that the differences in scores from then to now were not outrageous in the scores she’d spot checked.

You can scan the article to see some scores reported for mainly central Oklahoma schools.

WAIT! I just went out to find the article on Oklahoma’s cut scores only to find out that Wisconsin and Ohio changed their cut scores – I didn’t have time to look for other states. So, because the A-F grading for schools was federally mandated in Obama’s ‘Race To The Top’ program in order for schools to get federal dollars, I’m thinking there might be something going on at the federal level that sparked the change. I don’t know and don’t have time to research it I’m sorry to say, but I think the chances are good…

Right of First Refusal Laws Benefit Utilities, Not Consumers

Real Clear Energy – YIKES! I didn’t know anything about this, but we’d better start looking to get rid of any “right of first refusal” laws that might have previously been passed, or that might be passed this year. Here’s the explanation RCE gives:

“The proposed bills would give electric utilities in these states a “right of first refusal” (ROFR) to build, own, and operate new transmission lines in their service area, preventing new projects from being competitively bid on by other energy companies.  These bills would eliminate a key element of competition from the part of electricity grid development known as transmission planning.”

Bergstrom Introduces Legislation to Strengthen Classroom Integrity and Transparency

Oklahoma Senate Media – Although I’ve not read these bills myself yet, it looks as if these are the bills we need to help keep predators out of the classrooms and to help parents remove pornographic library books. We’ll definitely have to watch these. SB346 and SB348

Ryan Walters asks lawmakers for millions for Bible mandate, legal fights

The Oklahoman – I can say that this article finally has something upon which the Superintendent and I can agree fully – THE FEDERAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SHOULD BE SHUTTERED FOREVER.

Basically, however, this article is about Walters’ meeting with the state Senate education budget subcommittee where he submitted a request for…. drumroll please….. $3.95 billion dollars – which includes 3 million dollars Walters wants to spend on classroom Bibles.

Billion. Think on that. A BILLION dollars spent on Oklahoma public education systems graduating a vast majority of students who aren’t proficient in either reading or math. I want my money back. What a horrible return on ‘investment’ <eye roll>.

What’s Driving the Rise in Non-Denominational Christianity? You Might Be Surprised.

PJ Media – I think you probably won’t really, but I don’t want to tell you what it is because it’s a VERY SHORT, pretty interesting little article.

New Bill Calls for DHS Accountability to Protect Families and Uphold Due Process

OK House Media – New Rep. Gabe Woollley has “introduced House Bill 1100, a legislative measure aimed at ensuring accountability within the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS). The bill would require clear and convincing evidence to keep a child away from their parent or guardian. HB1100 would also impose felony kidnapping charges on the DHS employee who is responsible for approving the continued holding or release of a child for noncompliance.”

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Liberty, Or A Surveillance State – ALPR Use In Oklahoma Is Inconsistent With Individual Liberty

Tuesday morning (10.8.24), the State Powers Committee held an interim study by Representative Tom Gann on the use of Automated License Plate Readers in Oklahoma, titled, “Track and Tax, Surveillance Cameras and Warrantless Searches“.

It was a really great study and brought out some very important issues that I think so many of us just going about our day, don’t really think about. Thanks to Representative Gann and the State Powers Committee for hearing the study.

Wednesday morning (10.9.24) for our regular podcast, our beloved regular guest Julianne Romanello – who was supposed to educate us about Carbon Credits – was unable to be on. Unfortunately, she ended up with sick kiddos and was unable to both be on the podcast and help sick kids at the same time! We hope everything gets back to normal for her soon – and don’t worry, we’ll have her BACK on to cover the topic next month!

Without a guest, Michael and I and our friend Whitney Mullica from PikeOffOTA, spent our time discussing the Interim Study on ALPRs.

You can find the live video on both our Rumble and YouTube channels, but below is a clip where we all three talk about the use of ALPR cameras (and software). According to the interim study, ALPR cameras were ONLY to be used to determine who was and wasn’t complying with Oklahoma’s compulsory insurance law. Below, we discuss that topic. Have you ever thought about what we discuss here?

Oklahoma’s compulsory insurance law is SB359.

So why are we all so fired up about this interim study and ALPRs? The video below contains the answer. Would you want to be a party to this traffic stop? How do you think the cop acted? Would you be nervous or scared in this situation? Wouldn’t you wonder how – AND WHY – this policeman had so much information about your travels?

After watching the interim study all of us were troubled, but it was after watching the chest cam video of a traffic stop that all of us became exceptionally troubled about ALPRs.

My House Representative is John George. Representative George has a degree in criminal justice and was the long-time President of the Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police.

Now, I will say this again – I am not a ‘cop hater’, I loved working with our police department when I was Mayor in Luther (OK) – however, for many years, I’ve watched policeman go from being the kind, but steely-hearted men and women willing to throw down their lives for their community, to people who are gruff or authoritarian when I encounter them. I understand that the police have had a very rough time in the PR realm in the last number of years, but someone whose job it is to ‘protect and serve’ individuals in their communities shouldn’t tend toward authoritarian, as the policeman in the video above.

I’ve also seen police departments militarize themselves by purchasing armor-plated vehicles and now, in Tulsa, robot dogs. Why? Are MOST of the people they stop horrible people just looking to give them trouble? I, of course, don’t know the answer to that, not being a beat cop, but I expect we haven’t crossed that threshold yet.

When I contacted Representative George about this issue, we had a cordial conversation. He is willing to put safeguards on the software that backs up ALPRs because he believes we don’t have any right now and we need to. However, when I asked him why we had a compulsory insurance law in the first place, his fall-back was the ‘public safety’ catch all – he didn’t really have an answer. He also believed that ALPRs are absolute necessity to find missing children, or catch murderers and other bad guys. I asked him why the police couldn’t use traditional methods for this and his answer was because with the new technology we don’t have to. I told him I disagreed with that perspective thoroughly and we ended the conversation agreeing to disagree, however, as the citizen who elected him to represent me, I don’t want the state using these things at all because there are way too many ways for their misuse.

So, let’s review – Oklahomans can buy insurance for their cars if they are financially able (I’m not going to explain socialism here, but if you blanch at that statement, please do a thorough bit of research into the topic) and if they so desire. Lots of insurance companies provide that service. Individuals can also buy insurance against an uninsured motorist. Why, then, must the state force citizens to do such a thing? If we didn’t have the compulsory insurance law, we wouldn’t have the ALPRs reading license plates in the first place. And therein the slippery slope that every legislator seems to hate for you to bring to their attention. We allowed state use of ALPRs and now the ALPR software is able to track our every movement. Bad. Deal.

But let’s continue, why do we all have to get a REAL ID? Don’t we already virtually have that with our driver’s licenses which now use facial recognition and a thumb print? Is that really necessary? If so, why? The answer, ‘public safety’, means exactly what? Whatever the person using it wants it to mean to get what they feel like is important to a concept of ‘safety’ which is not at all well drawn – we saw that in full splendor during COVID.

This quote was thrown out in the podcast, but I’ll leave it here as well. As Benjamin Franklin said so famously, but is so unheeded by both those who like being mommied and those who like being authoritarians, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” So note, when we choose not to parent ourselves – BIG BROTHER will do it for us, and if we choose not to fight for our privacy – BIG BROTHER will take it from us.

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